The city s leader said on Monday that Hong Kong will reduce the length of mandatory hotel quarantine for overseas arrivals to three days from a week.
The southern Chinese city remains one of the few places in the world with mainland China to require a quarantine to guard against the spread of COVID - 19 to the local population. The policy taking effect on Friday will be Hong Kong's shortest quarantine for arrivals since the outbreak began.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said that arriving travelers must quarantine three days in a designated hotel, then undergo four days of medical surveillance during which their movements will be restricted via the use of a health code system. The change to COVID 19 policies comes amid an increase in infections, which city health officials warn could hit 8,000 in the coming weeks. During their week of quarantine and surveillance, travelers will have to test for COVID- 19 and those who are infected must stay in isolation. Those who test negative can use public transit and enter malls and markets, but they can't enter bars and amusement parks or visit elderly homes, schools and certain medical facilities.